JOHN R. MILTON WRITERS' CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 27-29, 2011

CALLS FOR PAPERS AND CREATIVE PRESENTATIONS

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA,
VERMILLION, SOUTH DAKOTA

Theme: Outlaw!: Law and (Dis)Order in the American West
(proposals accepted 9/01/11 through 10/27/11-10/29/11)

Please join us for the biennial John R. Milton Writers' Conference, held October 27-29, 2011, at The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.

We are seeking panel and roundtable proposals, scholarly papers, and creative writing related (either explicitly or implicitly) to the theme of Outlaw!: Law and (Dis)Order in the American West. Possible topics or approaches might include, but aren’t limited to:

• Law and (dis)order in Western American literature, history, and culture;
• Law and (dis)order in relationship to broken treaties, obligatory assimilation, as well as post-colonial and/or indigenous studies in American Indian literature, history, and culture;
• Law and (dis)order in the American West with respect to environmental issues and ecocriticism;
• Outlaw as myth and fantasy space in the American West;
• Outlaw as Other;
• Gender outlaws, and/or queering the American West;
• Borders, border crossings, and boundary transgressions;
• Virtual outlaws, and/or outlaws in the “new frontier” of cyber-space; and
• Representations of outlaws and/or law and (dis)order in popular culture (including, but not limited to, HBO's Deadwood and Joss Whedon's Firefly, Westerns (both film and television), graphic novels, and science fiction.

For critical work, please submit a 250-word abstract, along with a brief biographical note, by September 1, 2011. Panel proposals should include individual paper abstracts and biographical notes for all of the participating panelists, in addition to a 250-word justification for the panel. Roundtable proposals should include a 250-word justification for the roundtable session, along with biographical notes for the participating round table session members.

For creative submissions, please submit either 8-10 pages of poetry, or no more than 25 pages of creative prose writing, along with a short biographical note, by September 1, 2011. While creative work that either explicitly or implicitly addresses the conference theme, or is related in some way to region or landscape are particularly welcome, all types of creative work on any theme and in any style will be gladly considered for readings at the conference's creative writing panels.

All submissions should be sent to Lee Ann Roripaugh at Lee.Roripaugh@usd.edu
For additional questions or information, please e-mail: Lee.Roripaugh@usd.edu